Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part V of a five part series about "The Forty Fours" Blues songs. This post provides a sound file and lyrics to Howlin Wolf's "Forty Four".
Part I of that series provides the text to the song entitled "Forty-Four" that is included in African American folklorist & Fisk Univesity professor Thomas W. Talley's 1922 collection Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise & Otherwise. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/forty-four-from-thomas-w-talleys-1922.html for that post.
Part II provides a sound file & lyrics to Roosevelt Sykes's song "44 Blues". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/roosevelt-sykes-44-blues-sound-file.html for that post.
Part III provides information about Leothus Lee Green's song "Number 44 Blues" as well as a sound file & the lyrics to that song. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/leothus-lee-green-number-44-blues.htmlfor Part III of this series.
Part IV provides the lyrics and sound file to "Vicksburg Blues" by Little Brother Montgomery. Part IV provides the lyrics and sound file to "Vicksburg Blues" by Little Brother Montgomery. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/little-brother-montgomery-vicksburg.html for that post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT HOWLIN WOLF
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howlin'_Wolf
"Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was born in West Point, Mississippi in an area now known as White Station.
With a booming voice and looming physical presence, Burnett is commonly ranked among the leading performers in electric blues; musician and critic Cub Koda declared, "no one could match Howlin' Wolf for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits."[1] A number of songs written or popularized by Burnett—such as "Smokestack Lightnin'", "Back Door Man", "Killing Floor" and "Spoonful"—have become blues and blues rock standards."...
****
LYRICS: FORTY FOUR
(Chester Burnett [Howlin Wolf])
I wore my .44 so long, I've made my shoulder sore.
I wore my .44 so long, I done made my shoulder sore.
Well, I'm wondrin everybody, where'd my baby go.
Well, I'm so mad this mornin, I don't know where in the world to go.
Well, I'm so mad this mornin, I don't know where in the world to go.
Well, I'm lookin for me some money, pawned gun to have some gold.
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/h/howlin+wolf/forty+four_20200764.html
****
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE
Howlin' Wolf - Forty Four (1954)
leon wadsworth, Uploaded on Sep 24, 2010
****
Thanks to Howlin Wolf for his music legacy. Thanks also to those who are quoted in this post. And thanks to the publisher of this song file on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label Forty Four songs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forty Four songs. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Little Brother Montgomery - Vicksburg Blues (sound file & lyrics)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part IV of a five part series about "The Forty Fours" Blues songs. This post provides a sound file and lyrics to little Brother Montgomery's song "Vicksburg Blues".
Part I of that series provides the text to the song entitled "Forty-Four" that is included in African American folklorist & Fisk Univesity professor Thomas W. Talley's 1922 collection Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise & Otherwise. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/forty-four-from-thomas-w-talleys-1922.html for that post.
Part II provides a sound file & lyrics to Roosevelt Sykes's song "44 Blues". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/roosevelt-sykes-44-blues-sound-file.html for that post.
Part III provides information about Leothus Lee Green's song "Number 44 Blues" as well as a sound file & the lyrics to that song. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/leothus-lee-green-number-44-blues.html for that post.
Part V provides a sound file and lyrics to Howlin Wolf's "Forty Four". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/howlin-wolf-forty-four-sound-file-lyrics_24.html for that post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Brother_Montgomery
"Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery (April 18, 1906 – September 6, 1985[2]) was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and blues pianist and singer.[1]...
Montgomery was born in the town of Kentwood, Louisiana, a sawmill town near the Mississippi Border, across Lake Pontchartrain from the city of New Orleans, where he spent much of his childhood. As a child he looked like his father, Harper Montgomery, and was called Little Brother Harper. The name evolved into Little Brother Montgomery, a nickname which stuck. He started playing piano at the age of 4, and by age 11 he was playing at various barrelhouses in Louisiana. His own musical influences were Jelly Roll Morton who used visit the Montgomery household...
Among his original compositions are "Shreveport Farewell", "Farrish Street Jive", and "Vicksburg Blues". His instrumental "Crescent City Blues" served as the basis for a song of the same name by Gordon Jenkins, which in turn was adapted by Johnny Cash as "Folsom Prison Blues."[5]"
****
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE
Little Brother Montgomery Vicksburg Blues
randomandrare, Uploaded on Sep 23, 2009
I do not own the copyright to this recording. This video is for historical and educational purposes
Composed by Eurreal Montgomery
Little Brother Montgomery:Vocals & Piano
Recorded in Grafton, WI. c. September, 1930
Originally issued on Paramount 13006 (78 RPM)
This recording taken from the 1996 4CD box set "Full Spectrum Blues, Disc 2, Piano Blues & Boogie Woogie
-snip-
Here are two comments from this sound file's viewer comment thread:
"I have a taperecording from a collector's 78, which I cherish -- one of my all-time favorites. It is slightly different than this recording."
-JimCopp, 2012o
**
"I think he recorded this track four times in the 20s/30s. The one I like best is the second one. Stunning piano playing and very innovative for the time I would venture. There's a later recording without vocals on Last FM (on the Net) which is also brilliant."
-MrTimBranston, 2013
****
LYRICS: VICKSBURG BLUES
(Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery)
UPDATE November 24, 2014 - I've removed my attempted transcription. Read the lyrics in the comment section below. Thanks, anonymous Nov. 23, 2014!
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO
Also, thanks to anonymous for alerting me to a 1976 video of Little Brother Montgomery singing "Vicksburg Blues". Anonymous also posted the words to this version in the comment section below. Here's that video:
Little Brother Montgomery - Vicksburg Blues - Chicago (1976)
RawBluesTV, Published on Aug 27, 2012
Little Brother Montgomery piano & vocal
Produced by Maddalena Fagandini & Giles Oakley (BBC TV series)
Recorded in Chicago, Jan. 29, 1976
****
Thanks to Little Brother Montgomery for his music legacy. Thanks also to those who are quoted in this post. And thanks to the publisher of this song file on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part IV of a five part series about "The Forty Fours" Blues songs. This post provides a sound file and lyrics to little Brother Montgomery's song "Vicksburg Blues".
Part I of that series provides the text to the song entitled "Forty-Four" that is included in African American folklorist & Fisk Univesity professor Thomas W. Talley's 1922 collection Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise & Otherwise. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/forty-four-from-thomas-w-talleys-1922.html for that post.
Part II provides a sound file & lyrics to Roosevelt Sykes's song "44 Blues". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/roosevelt-sykes-44-blues-sound-file.html for that post.
Part III provides information about Leothus Lee Green's song "Number 44 Blues" as well as a sound file & the lyrics to that song. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/leothus-lee-green-number-44-blues.html for that post.
Part V provides a sound file and lyrics to Howlin Wolf's "Forty Four". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/howlin-wolf-forty-four-sound-file-lyrics_24.html for that post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Brother_Montgomery
"Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery (April 18, 1906 – September 6, 1985[2]) was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and blues pianist and singer.[1]...
Montgomery was born in the town of Kentwood, Louisiana, a sawmill town near the Mississippi Border, across Lake Pontchartrain from the city of New Orleans, where he spent much of his childhood. As a child he looked like his father, Harper Montgomery, and was called Little Brother Harper. The name evolved into Little Brother Montgomery, a nickname which stuck. He started playing piano at the age of 4, and by age 11 he was playing at various barrelhouses in Louisiana. His own musical influences were Jelly Roll Morton who used visit the Montgomery household...
Among his original compositions are "Shreveport Farewell", "Farrish Street Jive", and "Vicksburg Blues". His instrumental "Crescent City Blues" served as the basis for a song of the same name by Gordon Jenkins, which in turn was adapted by Johnny Cash as "Folsom Prison Blues."[5]"
****
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE
Little Brother Montgomery Vicksburg Blues
randomandrare, Uploaded on Sep 23, 2009
I do not own the copyright to this recording. This video is for historical and educational purposes
Composed by Eurreal Montgomery
Little Brother Montgomery:Vocals & Piano
Recorded in Grafton, WI. c. September, 1930
Originally issued on Paramount 13006 (78 RPM)
This recording taken from the 1996 4CD box set "Full Spectrum Blues, Disc 2, Piano Blues & Boogie Woogie
-snip-
Here are two comments from this sound file's viewer comment thread:
"I have a taperecording from a collector's 78, which I cherish -- one of my all-time favorites. It is slightly different than this recording."
-JimCopp, 2012o
**
"I think he recorded this track four times in the 20s/30s. The one I like best is the second one. Stunning piano playing and very innovative for the time I would venture. There's a later recording without vocals on Last FM (on the Net) which is also brilliant."
-MrTimBranston, 2013
****
LYRICS: VICKSBURG BLUES
(Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery)
UPDATE November 24, 2014 - I've removed my attempted transcription. Read the lyrics in the comment section below. Thanks, anonymous Nov. 23, 2014!
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO
Also, thanks to anonymous for alerting me to a 1976 video of Little Brother Montgomery singing "Vicksburg Blues". Anonymous also posted the words to this version in the comment section below. Here's that video:
Little Brother Montgomery - Vicksburg Blues - Chicago (1976)
RawBluesTV, Published on Aug 27, 2012
Little Brother Montgomery piano & vocal
Produced by Maddalena Fagandini & Giles Oakley (BBC TV series)
Recorded in Chicago, Jan. 29, 1976
****
Thanks to Little Brother Montgomery for his music legacy. Thanks also to those who are quoted in this post. And thanks to the publisher of this song file on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Leothus Lee Green - Number 44 Blues (information, sound file, & lyrics)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part III of a five part series about "The Forty Fours" Blues songs. This post provides provides information about Leothus Lee Green's song "Number 44 Blues" as well as a sound file & the lyrics to that song.
Part I of that series provides the text to the song entitled "Forty-Four" that is included in African American folklorist & Fisk Univesity professor Thomas W. Talley's 1922 collection Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise & Otherwise. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/forty-four-from-thomas-w-talleys-1922.html for that post.
Part II provides a sound file & lyrics to Roosevelt Sykes's song "44 Blues". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/roosevelt-sykes-44-blues-sound-file.html for that post.
Part IV provides the lyrics and sound file to "Vicksburg Blues" by Little Brother Montgomery. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/little-brother-montgomery-vicksburg.html for that post.
Part V provides a sound file and lyrics to Howlin Wolf's "Forty Four". Click http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/artist/Leothus+Lee+Green/a/albums.htm
"Leothus Lee Green, also known as Pork Chops, was an early contemporary of Little Brother Montgomery and a mentor to Roosevelt Sykes. Born in Mississippi around 1900, Green worked as a clothes presser in Vicksburg while perfecting his piano technique. Soon Leothus was traveling throughout the Lower Mississippi River Basin, earning a living by playing piano for the people. Montgomery knew him in Vicksburg, and claimed to have taught him the "44 Blues" in Sondheimer, LA, back in 1922...
Excepting for a brief excursion to New York in August 1937, Green performed and recorded mainly in or near Chicago. He cut 24 sides for Vocalion in 1929 and 1930, and 14 titles for Decca between August 1934 and September 1937. His last records were made for the Bluebird label in Aurora, IL, on October 11, 1937. Although primarily a bluesman, he was capable of quoting ragtime novelties, shifting into boogie-woogie, and running stride-like jazz passages. Little is known about the life of Leothus Lee Green; his death is believed to have occurred around 1945. All of his known recordings have been reissued in chronological sequence by the Document label." ~ arwulf arwulf, Rovi
****
LYRICS: "NUMBER FORTY FOUR BLUES"
(Leothus Lee Green)
Ah, my baby cryin and Ididn’t hear the 44 whistle blowin when she blows
Ah, my baby cryin and I hear the 44 whistle when she blows
And then I feel mistreated and your sweet mama bound to go.
Ah, baby, when you get lonely and think you want to go
Yes, baby when you get lonely and think that you want to go
You know that you ain’t no better, mama
Than the black woman that I had before
Some of these mornins mama, baby and it won’t be long
Ah some of these mornins, baby and it won’t be long
You gonna look for your daddy, baby, and I’m goin to be gone.
I got blues will last me nine months from today.
Baby, I got blues will last me nine months from today.
I’m gonna get my sweet woman to drive my blues away.
[Piano Instrumental]
Ah, little baby when you get lonely and want to go.
Ah baby, baby, when you get lonely and you want to go
You ain’t no better, baby, than the black woman that I had before
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell from the recording found above. Corrections and additions are welcome.
****
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE
Leothus Lee Green - Number 44 Blues
baalhabeit, Published on May 6, 2012
"The Forty-Fours," as its earlier form was sometimes referred to, was a piano-driven "barrelhouse honky-tonk blues" that was performed as an instrumental. Little Brother Montgomery, who is usually credited with the development of the song, taught it to another blues pianist along the way by the name of Lee Green; Green, in turn, taught it to Roosevelt Sykes. As Sykes explained: Lee Green was the first guy I ever heard play the "44" Blues. So Lee Green took a lot of time out to teach me how to play it…
****
Thanks to Leothus Lee Green for his music legacy. Thanks also to those who are quoted in this post. And thanks to the publisher of this song file on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part III of a five part series about "The Forty Fours" Blues songs. This post provides provides information about Leothus Lee Green's song "Number 44 Blues" as well as a sound file & the lyrics to that song.
Part I of that series provides the text to the song entitled "Forty-Four" that is included in African American folklorist & Fisk Univesity professor Thomas W. Talley's 1922 collection Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise & Otherwise. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/forty-four-from-thomas-w-talleys-1922.html for that post.
Part II provides a sound file & lyrics to Roosevelt Sykes's song "44 Blues". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/roosevelt-sykes-44-blues-sound-file.html for that post.
Part IV provides the lyrics and sound file to "Vicksburg Blues" by Little Brother Montgomery. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/little-brother-montgomery-vicksburg.html for that post.
Part V provides a sound file and lyrics to Howlin Wolf's "Forty Four". Click http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/artist/Leothus+Lee+Green/a/albums.htm
"Leothus Lee Green, also known as Pork Chops, was an early contemporary of Little Brother Montgomery and a mentor to Roosevelt Sykes. Born in Mississippi around 1900, Green worked as a clothes presser in Vicksburg while perfecting his piano technique. Soon Leothus was traveling throughout the Lower Mississippi River Basin, earning a living by playing piano for the people. Montgomery knew him in Vicksburg, and claimed to have taught him the "44 Blues" in Sondheimer, LA, back in 1922...
Excepting for a brief excursion to New York in August 1937, Green performed and recorded mainly in or near Chicago. He cut 24 sides for Vocalion in 1929 and 1930, and 14 titles for Decca between August 1934 and September 1937. His last records were made for the Bluebird label in Aurora, IL, on October 11, 1937. Although primarily a bluesman, he was capable of quoting ragtime novelties, shifting into boogie-woogie, and running stride-like jazz passages. Little is known about the life of Leothus Lee Green; his death is believed to have occurred around 1945. All of his known recordings have been reissued in chronological sequence by the Document label." ~ arwulf arwulf, Rovi
****
LYRICS: "NUMBER FORTY FOUR BLUES"
(Leothus Lee Green)
Ah, my baby cryin and Ididn’t hear the 44 whistle blowin when she blows
Ah, my baby cryin and I hear the 44 whistle when she blows
And then I feel mistreated and your sweet mama bound to go.
Ah, baby, when you get lonely and think you want to go
Yes, baby when you get lonely and think that you want to go
You know that you ain’t no better, mama
Than the black woman that I had before
Some of these mornins mama, baby and it won’t be long
Ah some of these mornins, baby and it won’t be long
You gonna look for your daddy, baby, and I’m goin to be gone.
I got blues will last me nine months from today.
Baby, I got blues will last me nine months from today.
I’m gonna get my sweet woman to drive my blues away.
[Piano Instrumental]
Ah, little baby when you get lonely and want to go.
Ah baby, baby, when you get lonely and you want to go
You ain’t no better, baby, than the black woman that I had before
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell from the recording found above. Corrections and additions are welcome.
****
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE
Leothus Lee Green - Number 44 Blues
baalhabeit, Published on May 6, 2012
"The Forty-Fours," as its earlier form was sometimes referred to, was a piano-driven "barrelhouse honky-tonk blues" that was performed as an instrumental. Little Brother Montgomery, who is usually credited with the development of the song, taught it to another blues pianist along the way by the name of Lee Green; Green, in turn, taught it to Roosevelt Sykes. As Sykes explained: Lee Green was the first guy I ever heard play the "44" Blues. So Lee Green took a lot of time out to teach me how to play it…
****
Thanks to Leothus Lee Green for his music legacy. Thanks also to those who are quoted in this post. And thanks to the publisher of this song file on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Roosevelt Sykes - "44 Blues" (sound file & lyrics).
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a five part series about "The Forty Fours" Blues songs. This post provides information about the "Forty Four Blues" as well as a sound file & lyrics to Roosevelt Sykes's song "44 Blues".
Part I of that series provides the text to the song entitled "Forty-Four" that is included in African American folklorist & Fisk Univesity professor Thomas W. Talley's 1922 collection Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise & Otherwise. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/forty-four-from-thomas-w-talleys-1922.html for that post.
Part III provides information about Leothus Lee Green's song "Number 44 Blues" as well as a sound file & the lyrics to that song. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/little-brother-montgomery-vicksburg.html for that post.
Part V provides a sound file and lyrics to Howlin Wolf's "Forty Four". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/howlin-wolf-forty-four-sound-file-lyrics_24.html for that post
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT "THE FORTY FOUR SONGS" & LYRICS TO ROOSEVELT SYKES' VERSION OF THAT SONG
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty-Four_(song)
"The Forty-Fours," as its earlier form was sometimes referred to, was a piano-driven "barrelhouse honky-tonk blues" that was performed as an instrumental.[1] Little Brother Montgomery, who is usually credited with the development of the song, taught it to another blues pianist along the way by the name of Lee Green; Green, in turn, taught it to Roosevelt Sykes...
By the time he recorded it in 1929, Roosevelt Sykes supplied the lyrics and called the song "44 Blues":[2]
It was not until after Sykes recorded "44 Blues" that Green and Montgomery recorded their versions of "The Forty-Fours." While instrumentally both were similar to Sykes' version, the subject matter and lyrics were different. Lee Green recorded his version, titled "Number 44 Blues," two months after Sykes (August 16, 1929, Vocalion 1401). About one year later, Little Brother Montgomery recorded his version titled "Vicksburg Blues" (September 1930, Paramount 13006-A). Of the three, Roosevelt Sykes' version was the most popular and "was to be far more influential than Green's version."[2] "[Sykes' lyrics] played on the differing interpretations of the phrase 'forty-fours' — the train number 44, the .44 caliber revolver and the 'little cabin' on which was the number 44, presumably a prison cell."[2] "Undoubtedly, these overlays of meaning generally appealed to other singers, accounting for the frequent use of Sykes' lyrics."[2]
Due to the song's popularity, many versions of "Forty-Four" would appear over the following years, including some that bore little resemblance to the original except for the title. Sykes, Green, and Montgomery recorded it themselves ten times between 1929 and 1936.[2] In 1954, when Howlin' Wolf recorded his version, "Forty Four" took on a new outlook. Backing Wolf, who sang and played hamonica, were Hubert Sumlin and Jody Williams (electric guitars), Otis Spann (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), and Earl Phillips (drums). Together they transformed "Forty Four" into a Chicago blues...
[Howlin] Wolf retained Sykes' handgun reference and added "Well I'm so mad this morning, I don't know where in the world to go...
****
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE
ROOSEVELT SYKES 44 Blues
doctorsamurai, Published on Mar 10, 2012
-snip-
Here are two comments from that sound file's viewer comment thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnia4na291s
"The .44 Magnum was not around, but .44 caliber revolvers and rifles were around in the late 19th century."
--VJDxp, 2013
**
"44 caliber revolvers did exist at that time. They used .44 Special cartridges. The .44 Magnum cartridges didn't exist until 1955."
-63YardDart, 2013
****
Thanks to Roosevelt Sykes for his life legacy. Thanks also to those who are quoted in this post. And thanks to the publisher of this song file on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part II of a five part series about "The Forty Fours" Blues songs. This post provides information about the "Forty Four Blues" as well as a sound file & lyrics to Roosevelt Sykes's song "44 Blues".
Part I of that series provides the text to the song entitled "Forty-Four" that is included in African American folklorist & Fisk Univesity professor Thomas W. Talley's 1922 collection Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise & Otherwise. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/forty-four-from-thomas-w-talleys-1922.html for that post.
Part III provides information about Leothus Lee Green's song "Number 44 Blues" as well as a sound file & the lyrics to that song. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/little-brother-montgomery-vicksburg.html for that post.
Part V provides a sound file and lyrics to Howlin Wolf's "Forty Four". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/09/howlin-wolf-forty-four-sound-file-lyrics_24.html for that post
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT "THE FORTY FOUR SONGS" & LYRICS TO ROOSEVELT SYKES' VERSION OF THAT SONG
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty-Four_(song)
"The Forty-Fours," as its earlier form was sometimes referred to, was a piano-driven "barrelhouse honky-tonk blues" that was performed as an instrumental.[1] Little Brother Montgomery, who is usually credited with the development of the song, taught it to another blues pianist along the way by the name of Lee Green; Green, in turn, taught it to Roosevelt Sykes...
By the time he recorded it in 1929, Roosevelt Sykes supplied the lyrics and called the song "44 Blues":[2]
Well I walked all night long, with my .44 in my hand (2x)
Now I was looking for my woman, found her with another man
Well I wore my .44 so long, Lord it made my shoulder sore (2x)
After I do what I want to, ain't gonna wear my .44 no more
Now I heard my baby say, she heard that 44 whistle blow (2x)
Lord it sounds like, ain't gonna blow that whistle no more
Now I got a little cabin, and it's number 44 (2x)
Lord I wake up every morning, the wolf be scratching on my door
It was not until after Sykes recorded "44 Blues" that Green and Montgomery recorded their versions of "The Forty-Fours." While instrumentally both were similar to Sykes' version, the subject matter and lyrics were different. Lee Green recorded his version, titled "Number 44 Blues," two months after Sykes (August 16, 1929, Vocalion 1401). About one year later, Little Brother Montgomery recorded his version titled "Vicksburg Blues" (September 1930, Paramount 13006-A). Of the three, Roosevelt Sykes' version was the most popular and "was to be far more influential than Green's version."[2] "[Sykes' lyrics] played on the differing interpretations of the phrase 'forty-fours' — the train number 44, the .44 caliber revolver and the 'little cabin' on which was the number 44, presumably a prison cell."[2] "Undoubtedly, these overlays of meaning generally appealed to other singers, accounting for the frequent use of Sykes' lyrics."[2]
Due to the song's popularity, many versions of "Forty-Four" would appear over the following years, including some that bore little resemblance to the original except for the title. Sykes, Green, and Montgomery recorded it themselves ten times between 1929 and 1936.[2] In 1954, when Howlin' Wolf recorded his version, "Forty Four" took on a new outlook. Backing Wolf, who sang and played hamonica, were Hubert Sumlin and Jody Williams (electric guitars), Otis Spann (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), and Earl Phillips (drums). Together they transformed "Forty Four" into a Chicago blues...
[Howlin] Wolf retained Sykes' handgun reference and added "Well I'm so mad this morning, I don't know where in the world to go...
****
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE
ROOSEVELT SYKES 44 Blues
doctorsamurai, Published on Mar 10, 2012
-snip-
Here are two comments from that sound file's viewer comment thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnia4na291s
"The .44 Magnum was not around, but .44 caliber revolvers and rifles were around in the late 19th century."
--VJDxp, 2013
**
"44 caliber revolvers did exist at that time. They used .44 Special cartridges. The .44 Magnum cartridges didn't exist until 1955."
-63YardDart, 2013
****
Thanks to Roosevelt Sykes for his life legacy. Thanks also to those who are quoted in this post. And thanks to the publisher of this song file on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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